Review: Brothers

"Why should we honor those that die upon the field of battle? A man may show as reckless a courage in entering into the abyss of himself." --Yeats

Brothers is a powerful film about two siblings who couldn't be more different. Sam(Tobey Maguire) is the good son, a soldier in the Afghanistan war and a devoted family man. He married his childhood sweetheart, Grace(Natalie Portman), and they have two precocious and insightful daughters.Tommy(Jake Gyllenhall) is the bad seed. Forever living in his brother's shadow and never measuring up in the eyes of their father Hank(Sam Shepherd), a former Marine himself. He has no problem letting Tommy know how much of a disappointment he is.

Tommy's just been released from prison, just in time to see his brother off on another tour. We see them together briefly in the beginning. They seem to have a quiet understanding of how they are perceived by the rest of the family, in particular their father. But to each other Sam is a loyal protector and defender to Tommy. The two are as close as brothers should be.

Sam's unit is attacked, and all are presumed to be dead. Grace, now a widow trying to raise two kids, is understandably insensate. Tommy takes it upon himself to help out in any way he can. But is he doing it for her out of the kindness of his own heart? Is he looking to fill his brother's shoes in some way? To perhaps show that he can be every bit the man Sam was? Grace's daughters grow attached to uncle Tommy, and soon Grace does as well. I won't give away the details on just how close. The film doesn't exactly let us in on that secret, either.

What matters is that Sam isn't dead, but held captive by the Taliban. Forced to make some awful decisions to keep himself alive long enough to get home to the woman he loves, he's become almost unrecognizable as the man he was before. When he returns home, there's little left that feels familiar. The house has changed, his children don't regard him the same way. Worst of all is that his wife, the very reason he did the things he did, seems closer to Tommy than to him. Sam exists in a paranoid, accusatory daze.

Director Jim Sheridan is a master at crafting stories like this, that seem to exist in their own little bubble. He directed the amazing family drama, In America, back in 2002. Like that, Brothers is a compact, targeted tale of the bonds we share with those we love, and the lengths we'll go to to repair them when broken. What it isn't is your typical war drama. Brothers asks no big questions and provides no easy answers. There's no ideology being espoused here. Too often the film gives in to it's need to be a thriller. There's no slow boil here. Once Sam returns home the situation goes awry pretty quickly. I would've preferred a little more time for the situation to coalesce in his mind, rather than leaping straight into accusations.

My love/hate relationship with Jake Gyllenhall continues here. His droopy dog glazed over expression works for the most part, and somehow I managed to believe that he and Tobey Maguire were brothers. Maguire is probably the last person I would think could pull off a role as any soldier, much less a grizzled veteran stricken with PTSD, but I was clearly wrong. His transformation is jaw dropping. His eyes saggy and distant but easily snapped to alert at the slightest movement. Easily the strongest single work he's done. Portman is typically solid, but I wish her character was given more to do than play the shocked wifey. Veteran actor Sam Shepherd is savvy enough not to let his disappointed father role become a caricature. He remains as restrained as the script allows, and his scenes particularly with Tommy are brilliant.

My complaints with Brothers are few, and don't take away much from the superb performances or the consistent hand of Jim Sheridan. I've heard a few people(*cough*Megahn McCain*cough*) complaining that this is just another film that inaccurately shows the effects of war on our returning veterans. If that's all they took away from it, then they might want to try paying attention next time rather than looking for a reason to spout off.
8/10